Hinge



G. A. LOFTIN 2,355,542

HINGE Filed Feb. 24, 1942 Patented Aug. 8, 1944 HINGE Grady A. Loftin, Altavista, Va., assignor to The Lane Company, Inc.,, "Altavista, Va., a corporation of Virginia Application February 24, 1942, Serial No. 432,133

3 Claims. (Cl. 16-163) This invention is a hinge for the cover of a cedar chest or the like.

An object of the invention is to provide a hinge structure made of or adapted to be made of wood or material other than metal. Such a hinge is useful in a cedar chest where the use of metal is apt to give rise to difficulties due to the formation of gummy deposits on the metal. A hinge which may be made of wood is of advantage also when metal is expensive or not available.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hinge which will not become entangled with or pinch or tear cloth or garments contained in the chest.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a hinge which, when the cover is raised, will move it forwardly so that its top surface may be flush with or even forwardly of the rear wall of the chest in combination with means for holding the rear edge of the cover securely to the body of the chest when the lid is closed.

Hinges of the type of that of the present invention, i. e. comprising two link members each pivoted to the body and cover of a chest in such a way as to permit the cover to be raised to vertical position and to move forwardly to a position in which the top of the cover is flush with the rear wall of the chest, are known. Such hinges as have been produced in the past have, however, had one or more of several faults especially for use in cedar chests. They have been made of metal which, as stated, is likely to accumulate gummy deposits from the cedar aroma laden atmosphere of the cedar chest, and this gummy material may be transferred to and damage garments stored in the chest. The moving parts of the hinge usually are exposed to the interior of the chest and may come in contact with and tear or pinch garments stored in the chest. Such hinges provide a more or less loose or flexible coupling between the cover and the chest body and fail to hold the cover in accurate alignment and tightly in contact with the body of. the chest when the cover is closed.

A hinge in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,

' Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the left hand end of a chest with the cover partly raised showing the position of the hinge and some of the features of its construction,

Fig. 2 is an end view of a chest with the cover closed and parts of the end walls of the chest body and cover broken away to reveal the hinge,

Fig. 3 is an end view of a chest with the cover fully raised and portions of the end walls of the chest body and cover broken away to reveal the hinge, and

Fig. 4 is an end view of a chest similar to that of Fig. 2 in which the locking means shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 and to be described hereinafter is omitted.

Referring to the drawing, I is the body and 2 the cover of a chest, such as a cedar chest, having the common type of cover comprising a flat top wall 3 and depending flanges 4 forming a cover of some depth, say several inches. Such a cover, if hinged so as to pivot about its lowermost rear edge would. when raised, extend backward-- lyof the rear wall of the chest and thus give rise to some inconvenience in that either the chest cannot be set tightly against the wall or must be moved forward. a few inches when the cover is raised.

The hinge comprises the two link members 5 and 6, the lower or front ends of which are pivoted in a bearing element 1 comprising a pair of similar plates 8 and '9 which are appropriately spaced apart by a spacer member Hl. Bearing element 1 may have any desired outer contour and as will be apparent may cover the entire end of the chest, but in the form shown is substantially triangular, all surplus material beyond an outline embracing the paths of movement of the link members 5 and 6 being cut away. The upper straight edge of bearing element 1 preferably is flush with the upper edge of the chest body I excepting for a portion at the rear which is cut away to provide a space to receive the lower end of the bearing element II. It will be observed that bearing elements 1 and H fit together quite closely when the chest is closed. The spacer member Ill is designed to occupy substantially all of the area between plates 8 and 9 excepting that occupied by the link members 5 and 6. Plates 8 and 9 may extend beyond the paths of link members 5 and 6 only far enough to provide a sufiicient area for spacer member ID to ive a solid structure.

Bearing element H comprises the two plates l2 and i3 and the spacer member M, the latter occupying only the area between plates I2 and I3 not occupied by the upper or rear ends of the link members 5 and -6. Link members 5 and 6 are pivoted in, that is, between the free ends of plates liland l3.

The above described hinge assembly, i. e., bearing elements 1 and H and link members 5 and 6 may be manufactured separately for incorporation as a unit into any. chest by means of screws or the like, as illustrated. No general rule can be given for determining the relative sizes of the parts. In the specific embodiment illustrated, the relative lengths of link members and 6 is about 5 to 4. It will be understood, however, that the lengths of the link members 5 and 6 and their relative lengths may vary and the pivot points of the ends thereof may be moved considerably without departing from my invention. The link members 5 and 6 may be so proportioned and pivoted as to cause the cover, in raised position, to stand flush with the back of the chest or either in front or to the rear of this position. It will be observed that in Fig. 3 the cover sits slightly in frontof the rear wall of the chest.

It is, of course, desirable to so proportion the link members 5 and 6 and to 50 position their pivot points that the cover in closed position is held tightly against the top edge of the chest body. In this connection it is noted that a hinge of this type is not well adapted to holding the cover firmly and rigidly in closed position. Link member 5 is substantially horizontal when the cover is closed and therefore can exert no downward pull on the cover, and link member 6 is at such an angle (about 30 to the horizontal) that it also fails to prevent some slight vertical movement. This movement is apt to become considerable as the pivots of the link members wear and loosen and to defeat an important purpose of a cedar chest, i. e., tightness, which is necessary to exclude dust and insects and to retain cedar aroma. It will be observed that the cover of the chest is provided with a resilient sealing strip I5 which may be made of metal or wood and that to be effective this strip should be flexed somewhat by the downward pressure of the cover against the body of the chest. The front edge of the cover may be held down firmly against the body so as to compress the sealing strip by a suitable latching means or lock (not shown), but I have found it to be necessary to provide some means for holding the rear of the cover tightly to the body of the chest against the tension of the sealing strip and to this end I have provided the latch member I6 which is suitably attached to the bearing element II and has a curved rearwardly projecting lug I! which fits into an opening or socket I8 in the rear wall of the chest body which serves as a keeper. The latching member I6, and particularly the lug I1, is so designed that it will enter the socket I8 regardless of such variation of the position of the cover 2 as may occur due to looseness and flexibility of the link members 5 and 6 but will have a cam action with respect to the: wall of the socket so that as the cover approaches and reaches closed position it will be drawn firmly down against the sealing strip I5.

It will be appreciated that there are two units of the hinge mechanism described and illustrated in each chest, i. e., one at each rear corner.

is to be observed that the hinge mechanism does not present any sharp edges or corners to the interior of the chest and that the link members 5 and 5 are well covered and protected by the plates 9 and I3 so that they are not likely to catch and tear garments placed in the chest and so that when the cover 2 is closed the hearing elements I and II present a substantially continuous smooth surface to the interior of the chest.

It will be apparent upon consideration that the principles of the invention described above may be embodied in a variety of modifications of the specific structure described. For instance, the equivalent of the bearing member I could be incorporated into the wall of the chest body, for example by cutting a groove of the proper shape in said wall or by building the wall of layers corresponding to plates 8 and 9 and the spacer member I0. In the same way the bearing element II might be constructed as an integral part of the end of cover 2 and even the finger I8 might be constructed as an integral part of the end of the cover or as an integral part of the bearing element I I. Or plates 8' and I2 might be omitted and the remainder of bearing elements I and II simply fitted against the end of the body and the end of the cover respectively. The end of the body and of the cover, if of sufiicient thickness, might be provided with surface recesses to receive the bearing members 'I and II.

In view of the foregoing it will be understood that the essence of the invention resides in the two link members 5 and 6 made of wood or the like and means for pivotally attaching them to the body and cover, respectively, of a chest or the like so that in the closed position of the cover the link members are completely covered and will not come in contact with articles within the chest. Specifically, the invention is a hinge unit made entirely of wood and consisting of the two link members 5 and 6 and the two bearing elements I and II, the latter serving to pivotally attach the links to the body and cover of the chest and being so designed and shaped that in the closed position of the cover the link members are completely enclosed by the bearing elements and the holding lug II in combination with a chest provided with the cooperating socket I8.

I claim:

1. A hinge adapted to secure the cover to the body of a. cedar chest or the like receptacle and to be exposed to the interior thereof comprising a first bearing member formed of two spaced apart parallel non-metallic plates, said bearing member being adapted to be secured to an end wall of the body of the receptacle, a second bearing member formed of two spaced apart parallel non-metallic plates, said second bearing member being adapted to be secured to the end wall of the cover of the receptacle, and two non-metallic link members an end of each of which is pivotally secured to each of said bearing members between the non-metallic plates thereof, said second bearing member being adapted to project across the line of contact of the body and cover and said first bearing member being recessed to receive the projecting end of said second bearing member and the ends of said link members secured to said second bearing member being secured to said projecting end so that said link members lie wholly below said line of contact in closed position.

2. A hinge as defined in claim 1 in which the second bearing member carries a latching member adapted to engage a keeper carried by the rear wall of the body of the receptacle when the hinge is in its closed position, said latching member and keeper being adapted to hold a flexible sealing strip compressed between the body and cover of the receptacle when the cover of the receptacle is closed.

3. A hinge as defined in claim 1 in which both plates of each bearing member are integral with the end wall of the body and the end wall of the cover, respectively, of the receptacle.

GRADY A. LOFTIN. 

